When Bob Dylan released Blonde on Blonde (compare prices) on May 16, 1966, rock's first-ever double album zoomed to number nine on the charts, only sealing his popularity among America's rock-infatuated youth. But more important, the album served to catalyze the new creative process that Dylan had achieved with Highway 61 Revisited, his first all-electric record.
In due time, Blonde on Blonde would come to be known as the summit of Dylan's sound. Or as he put it in a 1978 Playboy interview. “It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up.” Produced by Bob Johnston—who also produced Highway 61 Revisited—that the album soars between brash and poignant, splashed evenly across the album's 14 tracks, from “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” sometimes called Dylan's most pretentious song, to “Visions of Johanna,” the one usually considered his most poetic.
The New York Sessions
The first session took place at Columbia's Studio A on October 5, 1965 when Dylan, along with his new band, The Hawks (aka The Band), would attempt two takes on “Medicine Sunday” (which would soon evolve into “Temporary Like Achilles”) before taking a few swings at “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window,” an unfinished track from the Highway 61 sessions.
Then, after more touring, November 30 merged Dylan with The Hawks in the studio again—minus drummer Levon Helm, who'd quit and was replaced by Bobby Gregg. Also on hand were Bruce Langhorne and Joe South (of future “Games People Play” fame) as standby guitarists, while Al Kooper and Paul Griffin dropped in for supplemental organ and piano work. The goal was to get “Visions of Johanna” in shape, but after 14 takes, it went nowhere.
Then following two months of touring, the musicians convened yet again on January 21, 1966 with the objective of capturing “She's Your Lover Now,” and although he pinned it down on the 19th take, Dylan would eventually drop the song from the album roster. The next sessions, January 25 and 27, would see the completion of “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”—the only song recorded in New York that would end up on the actual release—while progress on “Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat” smacked of wheel spinning.
The Saga Moves to Nashville
With only a single song to show for five days of studio time, the New York sessions became an exercise in frustration. After all, Bringing It All Back Home only took three days. For Highway 61, it was five. For whatever reason—too many cooks, wrong cooks, wrong venue—the groove wasn't there. Even trusty Al Kooper with his spontaneous muse couldn't lubricate the wheels, and Johnston suggested that Dylan move the show to his Nashville home turf.
It was a brilliant idea, with Johnston pairing the Hawks and Al Kooper with a knot of solid Nashville sessions guys. Besides Charlie McCoy (whose distinct Spanish guitar graces “Desolation Row”) and his bandmates—guitarist Wayne Moss and drummer Kenneth Buttrey—other Nashville talent included guitarist Jerry Kennedy, pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins, and bassist Henry Strzelecki, with Joe South tossed in for color.
While throwing a clan of New York hipsters together with a bunch of heartland pros might seem an odd hybrid, Johnston's alchemy was dead-on. On day one, February 14, the goal was to nail down the problematic “Visions of Johanna.” Finding the sweet spot on the first run, after a few false starts, the motley band sewed it up on the fourth take. And things would only get better.
During this era, Dylan started his habit of writing lyrics in the studio, and on February 15, when the session began at 6 p.m., he asked the players to hang out “a minute” while he worked out “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” on piano. Ten hours later, ha-ha, he finally assembled the musicians. Not used to Dylan's longer song variations, thinking it was going to be a typical three-minute cut, the red-eyed players launched into the song. But as Kenny Buttrey recalled, “After about 10 minutes on this thing we're cracking up at each other. I mean, we peaked five minutes ago. Where do we go from here?” But on the fourth take, they captured the final cut of this 11-minute 23-second paean to Dylan's new wife, Sara Lownds.
February 16 would be the last session for the month, and in the wee hours, following another marathon wait while Dylan hammered at the lyrics, the fully gelled ensemble nailed down another 20-take song, “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again.” But still, after six days in the studio, all told, Dylan only had five songs—hardly enough to fill the double LP it would become.
The Final Round
Three weeks later, Dylan returned for the March 7-9 sessions. But this time he only brought Kooper and Robertson, and instead of working through lyrics on the clock, Dylan brought his songs ready to go. Clinching “Absolutely Sweet Marie” in just three takes on the first day, it was obvious that any snags plaguing the earlier sessions were long gone. And after getting “Pledging My Time” and “Just Like a Woman” as easily on day two, the mood spun into jocularity.
On the last day, those dreamed-of session sparks really started flying, and the band whipped through the six final songs in an amazing 13 hours. Around 4:00 a.m., Dylan was tapping away at “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” on piano when Bob Johnston mused that it would sound good with a Salvation Army band. When Dylan agreed, Johnston called up trombonist Wayne “Doc” Butler, who grabbed his instrument and shot over there. Together with McCoy on trumpet, the players pegged the song—complete with its zany New Orleans funeral procession sound—in a single take.
As the sun crept up on the horizon, the most difficult song had yet to be dealt with. After a total of three days and some 19 takes toiling over it, “Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat” still sat in a musical purgatory. However, in the final session's easy groove, with that wild mercury sound in full swing, the ensemble tucked it away on the first stab. And with that aside, the final track of the sessions ended up being “I Want You,” a perfect last touch to an epic round of sessions for Dylan's seventh—and what many consider his greatest—album.